Do You Practice Worldly Thinking or Godly Actions? – James: Faith & Works, part 5
How’s your perspective? Is it influenced by God or something else? This message gives important insight about what it means to love God, love people, and have faith in Christ.
As believers, we must view things from God’s perspective and not according to the world’s ideas, or by physical appearance or status. In this message, we will learn why our words and actions must display faith and harmony with the spiritual truth of the gospel. Jesus looked down on no one. Likewise, we must view people through God’s eyes rather than judge them by our personal prejudices or by their outward situation. We are all sinners saved by grace through faith. Allow the mercy of God to triumph in your heart and guide you in how you live.
Worldly Thinking vs Godly Actions
We are saved by faith, which is demonstrated by our deeds.
James is writing from his own personal and firsthand experience. He wanted to inspire hope and endurance regarding lessons of faith, trials, testing, and persecution, that the people of faith were experiencing. James wanted to address something that many people would have either experienced or seen demonstrated by the ruling Jewish religious class. The Jewish religious leaders looked down on the poor, the common and needy people of society. The religious leaders were focused on the outward, the physical. They were concerned about their own personal power, authority and how people viewed them rather than focused of God Almighty and people.
Jesus’ teaching often offended the religious leaders and was visibly different and in contrast to the religious leaders of the day. Jesus is said to teach as one having authority unlike the religious leaders. Jesus was focused on the person’s spiritual wellbeing. Jesus walked and lived in the spiritual authority of God and Jesus being the son of God. Jesus was focused on the spiritual heart of the person and their spiritual wellbeing. Jesus knew that the outward sinful lifestyle would change as the inward spiritual deliverance from sin occurred in the person’s heart.
Jesus knew how a person acts outwardly reflects the inward spiritual condition of the heart and soul. For example:
One person might be full of pride, selfish and in living spiritually blind to their own bondage to sin, while the other person is humble, spiritually searching and in need of a savior. Both need deliverance from the spiritual bondage that kept them spiritually blind to the spirit and truth of God.
One person outwardly looks wealthy and as if life was all put together, but inwardly they were far from God and did not know it. While another person outwardly appears to be poor and needy, this person looked to be an outcast of society and they too were living far from God. One focused on everything the world holds dear and living in the present, while the other might be focused simply to survive another day. Both need God and both need to have faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Remember James addressed his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel. He is addressing Jewish believers, some of whom were struggling spiritually and were needing to be reminded to love their neighbors and do right to one another.
The believer will need to let go of past worldly teaching and thinking. The believer will need to embrace the teaching and words of Jesus.
James knew the teaching of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is a good example of Jesus teaching and how the spiritual truth of God is witnessed in the person’s heart:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Blessed are those who mourn,
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the pure in heart,
Blessed are the peacemakers,
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
theirs is the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 5:3-10).
The worldly person does not understand the words of Jesus because Jesus is focused on spiritual truth rather than natural, worldly thinking.
Jesus tells us that the words and actions of a person must display faith and harmony with the spiritual truth of the gospel. The religious leaders did not understand this. They were concerned about the outward, the present, and how they looked in the eyes of others, and they neglected the spiritual truth of God and the spiritual bondage that filled their hearts due to sin.
James is attempting to show the Jewish believers the difference between a legalistic interpretation of the Jewish law that points to a need of a savior, and the spiritual meaning and fulfillment of the law in Christ the Lord and that faith in Christ leads to salvation. Only by faith in Jesus is a person saved, and that faith in Jesus is demonstrated through deeds and how a person lives.
James is contrasting false teaching with true faith: the false teaching worldly religion taught with true faith in Christ and living according to the word of God that every believer is to live.
Faith is displayed by outward action and inward motives.
In James 2:1-13, we find a sinful issue that James wanted to confront. In doing so James is laying the groundwork for what he wanted to address regarding faith and works in the next section of scripture. James addresses something that was all too common in his day and, unfortunately, was being modeled by religious leaders. It is also a warning for us today. We must view people through God’s eyes rather than judge a person by our personal prejudices or by their outward situation, looks, or past acts. Jesus came so that whosoever would believe might be saved.
Jesus looked down on no one. Jesus did not come to deliver from sin only those whom we think, like, look, or feel comfortable with and think that they deserve forgiveness and salvation. Favoritism should not have anything to do with how we should act, help others or live.
James explains what true faith in Christ looks like and what it is not. Faith in Jesus is more than simply words and it is displayed by our outward actions and inward motives of the heart.
‘My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment’ (James 2:1-13, NIV).
James is addressing believers. Jewish religious leaders were more concerned about how someone looked, smelled or how they might appear to be helping others rather than the person or the person’s need. This is just the opposite of what Jesus taught and did.
Jesus was not worried what others thought. Jesus was focused on doing the will of God and seeing people delivered from the bondage of sin, no matter their status in society. James reaches back to the sermon on the mount to highlight the spiritual difference between God’s law of liberty and man’s legalistic law and spiritual blindness that only condemns.
In the verses we just read, we find that favoritism is a sin rooted in pride and evil thoughts, in contrast to God’s grace and law of liberty that is demonstrated in the heart of God and love for all mankind.
A man once asked Jesus the question: “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). Jesus answers the man with these words:
Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:18-21).
Here, Jesus is calling the man to a deeper spiritual commitment. One of selfless action and not words only. The man in this story needed a change of heart, a spiritual attitude change. He needed his spiritual eyes opened. But sadly, he walks away unchanged in his heart due to his selfishness and pride. He wanted to hear that he was doing ok. Instead, he chose to hear only what he wanted to hear. He did not, and could not, let go of his worldly riches. He was unable to love his neighbors as much as he loved his worldly possessions and himself.
Do you love others as Christ loves you?
The word of God gives us a clear difference between the prideful unloving motives that the world claims we need to hold dear and what scripture teaches about loving God, loving people, and having faith in Christ. We must choose to be spiritually receptive regarding faith in Christ and embrace the truth of God, especially when it challenges us to look inward and convicts us of sin. Believers must view things from God’s perspective and not according to the world’s ideas, or by a person’s physical appearance, status, position, dress, wealth, or background.
James calls every believer to refrain from judging one another according to the world’s standards and, instead, to look and act according to the loving heart of God. To do otherwise is sin. We should love one another as Christ has loved us. We should love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Knowing that God loved us while we were still sinners and gave his life that we may have eternal life with Christ in glory should encourage us to do the same and love one another as Christ loved us.
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:26-30).
Mercy triumphs over judgement, so be merciful to each other.
God looks at the heart and not the outward appearances. We can quickly fall into a trap of thinking that James is speaking of physical wealth or worldly influence, but that is not what James is referring to in James 2:1-13. Rather James is addressing faith in God and encouraging the believer to steer clear of worldly thinking.
Much of what the world frowns upon or despises is exactly what God looks for and desires. Many people today proclaim to have faith in God. Many have relied on a religious teaching that the world has twisted to be a form of religion and yet is far from the truth. Many believe they are OK, but by their actions and words they clearly do not know Jesus and are living apart from God. These individuals think themselves to be wise, but they have become fools, not realizing their sin and rebellion towards God Almighty. A person who sees themselves as being rich, as deserving, as spiritually worthy is living far from God.
The fact is we are all sinners saved by grace through faith.
The person who views themselves as a sinner saved by grace, the person who recognizes a need for grace, mercy and forgiveness of God is spiritually humble. In the world’s eyes, often, this person is viewed as poor, but truly they are spiritually rich as they place their faith in Christ.
James is not wanting anyone to think more highly of themselves than they should. We are all sinners saved by grace through faith.
Let me close with the last two verses of this section:
“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:12-13).
Allow the mercy of God to triumph in your heart and guide you in how you live. Reject the lies of the enemy and worldly motives of how you once lived. Speak and act as one who loves God and loves his neighbor as himself. Speak and act as one who has faith in Christ. Not one of us are perfect. Not one of us deserve the love of God. The smallest infraction of God’s commands is no less deserving than another. All are the same in God’s eyes. Let the love and mercy of God that he has shown you in Christ be the reason you share your faith in Christ and love one another as Christ has loved you.
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